


I Don’t Hear Any Bells, Do You?

by InkWitch (serkestic)



Category: Free!
Genre: I don't know where I went wrong, M/M, past seigou, this was meant to be a makogisa fluff, this was not meant to be a sort of hangover crossover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-27
Updated: 2014-05-27
Packaged: 2018-01-26 18:24:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1698155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/serkestic/pseuds/InkWitch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I’m afraid this is real, Nagisa-kun,” said Rei solemnly. “By the state marriage law, you are now legally Makoto-san’s husband.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Don’t Hear Any Bells, Do You?

**Author's Note:**

> Very loose research was done for this fic so it's definitely less than accurate. I apologize. ~~I _tried_ to make it MakoGisa but somehow it just unraveled into Everyone Has a Part No Matter How Small.~~  
>  **Happy birthday, Adi!** I know this was not what you had in mind with your whole accidentallymarried!Makogisa prompt thing but. Well. This was the best I could do? I love you loads!

Makoto was wearing a ring on his ring finger and he couldn’t get it off.

There were three things that were immediately strange with this particular situation: (a) he did not remember this ring and since he didn’t wear jewelry, he thought it was a safe bet that this wasn’t _his_ ring; (b) he did not remember last night; and (c) he was currently in his hotel room accompanied by a familiar blonde, whose lower half was inconveniently curled around _his_ lower half. Oh yes, and both of them seemed to be in their underwear.

Makoto gulped as Nagisa shifted closer to him, one thin forearm thrown casually over his hip, the hand dangling near his – well. One can’t _blame_ Makoto for his morning, ahem, disturbances. It was natural for men to be like this in the morning and, oh shit, Nagisa’s hand just slipped lower and his breath was hot on Makoto’s back, and the warmth of his body was really so _inviting_ in the coolness of the morning air–

Makoto got out of bed gingerly, being careful not to disturb his friend. As he looked blearily around his room, he saw the open door and what seemed to be his and Nagisa’s clothing strewn all over the floor in haphazard piles. He untangled his pants from Nagisa’s shirt and pulled it on, covering his yawn with one hand. Nagisa murmured and shifted in bed; the blankets slipped off of him slightly. Makoto pulled the covers to his friend’s chin before heading to the bathroom.

When he stumbled back out of the bathroom, pain drumming a steady beat behind his eyes, Nagisa was sitting up and rubbing gummy eyes. He looked over at Makoto and squinted. “Mako-chan…?”

“Nagisa,” he said in relief, dropping down onto the bed and massaging his heated forehead. “I have a _terrible_ headache. Do you remember anything from last night?”

The blonde blinked and raised a hand to scratch the back of his neck; Makoto caught a glint glancing off of his finger. He frowned, reaching out to grab Nagisa’s hand and inspected it. “Nagisa, you’re wearing a ring too?”

The one on his friend’s finger was bigger, looser, and on his thumb to keep it from sliding off. It was still loose enough to slip off and Makoto did so, comparing it to the one he was wearing. They were the same, simple silver bands with a notch on the top. He looked up to see Nagisa frowning at the rings.

“Mako-chan,” he said slowly. “What _happened_ last night?”

Makoto handed back the ring and shrugged. “I don’t know. I can’t remember anything except leaving the hotel. I have the worst hangover though.”

“Where are the others?”

The others. Makoto got up and left the bedroom. The suite they’d gotten was as spacious and clean as they’d left it last night. But in the lounge of the suite, sprawled over each other at awkward right angles, lay Rei, Rin and Sousuke. Rei had his mouth wide-open, drool dribbling from the corner of his mouth onto Rin’s T-shirt, his head pillowed by Rin’s chest. Sousuke was sprawled half over Rin’s legs, cuddling Rin’s left foot like a teddy bear. Of all of them, Rin seemed the most comfortable.

He felt Nagisa come up behind him, now fully-dressed. The blonde was wearing the ring again and looked better than Makoto. Perhaps he had drunk less. Nagisa snorted at the sight of their friends collapsed over each other and looked around. “Where’s Haru-chan?”

Makoto frowned. There was no sign of his best friend in the lounge. The two of them exchanged glances and Nagisa moved forward to wake the others up while Makoto checked the other bedrooms for Haru. None of the other bedrooms had been disturbed but there was a used plate on the kitchen counter and Makoto could see traces of oil on it. A frying pan sat beside the stove, a fork set neatly inside it. Makoto wondered where the hell Haru had even gotten mackerel in the hotel because he was pretty sure they didn’t serve any mackerel dishes for room service and there had definitely been no fish in their suite supplies last night. He headed back to the lounge, his heart a little faster than usual, and tried to tell himself that everything was fine. Haru probably just left the suite early to check out the hotel pool.

The others had been awoken by Nagisa and they were all sitting on the leather couches looking worn and sleepy; Rei had left to go freshen up. They looked up as Makoto flopped down beside Rin, rubbing his forehead.

“Where’s Haru-chan?” Nagisa asked him.

“He’s not in the suite,” he told them. “But he’s already awake; he fried mackerel for breakfast in the kitchen.”

Rin dropped his head back onto the couch with a thud. “He’s probably in the hotel pool. Did he even drink last night? Ugh.”

“Do the rest of you remember anything?” Makoto asked. They all shook their heads.

“All I remember is racing Rin up the stairs to the suite,” said Sousuke, “and then nothing. Just black. Jesus, my head hurts so much.”

“Nothing on me,” said Rin, pressing the palms of his hand into his eyes. “Fuck, it’s like I’ve been mind-wiped. How much did we even _drink_? I feel like someone’s digging for diamonds in my skull.”

Makoto sighed. “I should go check on Haru right–”

“Uuuuwaaa!!” Rei’s scream interrupted. They all winced simultaneously and made to get up; Nagisa had gotten the furthest, he stood at the door when Rei nearly fell into him in his hurry. The guy looked in a state of insane panic.

“What– who– _did this to me?!_ ” he yelled incoherently, flailing out as Nagisa tried to calm him.

“Did what?” Nagisa yelled. “Rei-chan, calm _down_!”

“My teeth,” Rei moaned and he opened his mouth to show them a missing third molar. “My _teeth_.”

There was a strain of silence in which they all struggled to find something to say instead of laughing hysterically. Finally Makoto broke in with a soothing smile, “It’s alright, Rei, it’s barely noticeable. It’ll probably grow back in a month or so.”

“Plus it makes you look kind of rugged!” Nagisa added. “People will think you’ve been in a fight; some people consider that pretty attractive, you know.”

Rei looked scandalized. “This,” he stressed, “is _not_ beautiful! I need to go to a dentist as soon as possible!”

“Rei, we don’t have time for this,” Rin cut in impatiently. “Our flight leaves in about four hours. We need to get Haru and start packing. You’ll be fine for wedding photos as long as you keep your mouth shut.”

A yelp responded to this; they all gaped at Rei but he shook his head quickly and pointed with a shaking hand towards Haru’s bedroom. Makoto sped to the room and looked around: as empty as it had been when he checked it. But as the sound of a bell rang clear through the room, he entered more fully and looked around, spying a grey door blending in with the walls right next to the bed. The others followed him inside, Nagisa asking in a puzzled voice, “Did you guys hear a bell?”

Makoto strode to the door and pulled it open to reveal an opulent, enormous bathroom. It was breathtakingly beautiful and artistic in a modern fashion, as the rest of the suite had been; Rei and Haru had specifically chosen it for them. There was a gigantic bathtub in the centre of the bathroom, a low Jacuzzi-style tub filled to the brim with water. There was a dolphin in the bathtub.

Not Haru. A real, live dolphin.

The five of them gaped at the mammal as it chirruped happily at them, splashing about in place and reaching over to pick up a bell with a tang. It shook the bell vigorously and laughed when the music bounced on the bathroom walls. They hurried out of the bathroom, Makoto shutting the door behind him decisively.

“There’s a dolphin,” Rin hissed. “Why the fuck is there a _dolphin_?”

“You don’t think…” All of them turned to look at Nagisa and he stared back with wide eyes. “You don’t think the dolphin is Haru-chan, do you?”

They threw the locked door a glance.

“No,” Rin shook his head. “Don’t be ridiculous. A human can’t _turn into a dolphin_.”

“This is Haru-chan’s room though,” Nagisa pointed out.

Makoto interrupted as Rin swelled. “I don’t think that it’s Haru,” he said. “But we need to get him and we need to figure out _fast_ how the dolphin got here. Where did we even _go_ last night?”

“The plan was to go check out some casinos!” said Rin wildly. “We were just going to get drunk a bit and maybe gamble then come back home! What did we even _drink_ that we _all_ have short-term amnesia?”

There was a pause as everybody thought about it.

“Jaegar?” suggested Sousuke.

“I don’t remember drinking Ja– never mind,” Rei sighed.

“Vodka martini?” put Nagisa.

“We all hate vodka, except Haru,” Rin reminded.

“It doesn’t _matter_ what we drank,” interrupted Makoto, exasperated. “We need to find Haru. And we need to get rid of the dolphin. _And_ we need to pack. So instead of standing around discussing, let’s _move_ and figure this out.”

“Makoto’s right,” Rin said. “Okay, how about this: Makoto, Nagisa, you guys go check out the hotel pool and bring Haru back; Sousuke and I’ll get cabs and we’ll sign out of the room; Rei, you call animal services or the police or some shit, figure out where the heck the dolphin came from.” They all nodded and Rin clapped his hands, speaking in his captain voice, “Okay troop, let’s go!”

The hotel that Rin had chosen was the Mandalay Bay Resort, for its beautiful Olympic-length pool and its renowned Shark Reef – Sousuke had a strange fascination with all species of shark. As best man, Rin had taken the full responsibility and expenses of the hotel suite they’d chosen; when Sousuke had found out, while Rin was handing over his credit card to the concierge, he had thrown a mini-fit then practically broken down in awed gratitude for his best friend. It had been a rather whimsical decision of theirs, to celebrate Sousuke’s bachelor party in Las Vegas, Nevada – in all reality, it had just been a silly suggestion put forth by Rin during one of their reminiscing stupors while they got fitted for suits and then somehow, everyone just nodded along, oh _yes_ , that’s a _great_ idea, let’s go to the States and get super drunk, oh _no_ Kou’s not going to be mad at _all_. Suffice to say, Rin had been given the task of breaking it to his baby sister that they were taking her groom to the City of Sin for his last day as a bachelor.

When Makoto and Nagisa stepped out of the hotel and headed towards the pool; people were just starting to crowd around the Jacuzzis and pool side. A few were swimming: a lone female swimmer doing lengths, a father teaching a little girl to dog paddle and two teenage boys splashing each other and trying to dunk the other. No sign of their friend.

“Maybe Haru-chan got out for a drink?” suggested Nagisa. They headed for the outdoor bar but still no sign. They turned back to the pool, frowning.

“This makes no sense,” Makoto muttered. “Where would he go other than the pool?”

They looked at each other and Nagisa bit his lip. “Let’s go ask the concierge if they’d seen him,” he said.

Fifteen minutes later, they headed back to their suite. Makoto’s heart was beating very fast and his attempts to calm himself down were failing drastically. When they re-entered the suite, they found Rin and Rei in the lounge, surrounded by their hand luggage.

“What happened?” Rin asked. “Where’s Haru?”

“We couldn’t find him,” said Nagisa, still worrying his bottom lip. Rin’s eyes widened. “He wasn’t in the pool and the concierge didn’t see him. We asked around but no one saw anyone like Haru-chan. It’s like he disappeared.”

“What,” stated Rin. “He _disappeared_?”

Makoto sat down beside Rei, scooting over a little as Nagisa joined him. He didn’t notice that he was twisting the ring on his finger until Nagisa’s hand grasped his, fingers untangling his own. “We’ll find him,” Nagisa said reassuringly to both of them. Then he turned to ask, “But where’s Sou-chan?”

“I sent him to the airport,” Rin replied. “He took most of our stuff, we just have Haru’s hand bag and yours, Makoto, and only because they didn’t fit in the cab with the rest. He’ll handle the airport shit, we just need to _find Haru_ and, oh yeah.” He glanced at Rei. “Should you tell them, or?”

Rei sighed heavily. “We stole the dolphin,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone and Makoto felt Nagisa’s hand drop from his limply.

They heard the dolphin’s bell ringing in the distance.

“W-what,” spluttered Makoto.

“Whoa,” breathed Nagisa.

“I called the police station to ask about a missing dolphin,” Rei explained. “And they told me that one had been stolen last night around 10 at night, just before closing, from the dolphin habitat opposite the Mirage.” He paused delicately. “They gave me the description of the ‘thief’ and asked me to keep an eye out and… it seems Haruka-san fits the description.”

There was another awkward silence, through which they could clearly hear Rin psyching himself up. Makoto flopped back against the couch and Nagisa curled over his stomach, hands clasped to his mouth. Peculiar noises escaped him and Rei gave him a despairing look. “This is not something to be _laughing_ about, Nagisa-kun,” he said sternly. Nagisa dissolved into giggles.

“Haru-chan _stole_ … a _dolphin_ … oh my god, he actually kidnapped a _dolphin_ … oh my god,” Nagisa gasped, falling against Makoto with tears in his eyes.

“There’s something else. I found it stuffed in Makoto-san’s bag,” said Rei. There was a suppressed… something in his voice; Nagisa sat up, gulping back weak chuckles. Makoto glanced at Rin: the redhead was smirking and when he caught Makoto’s look, he gave him a leer. Makoto looked back at Rei to find his friend holding out a paper towards him. He took it and skimmed through it quickly: it seemed to be a marriage certificate. He looked back at Rei to ask why they had a marriage certificate when Nagisa gasped, holding out his hand and inspecting the ring on his finger with a stunned expression. With a frown, Makoto bent over the paper and read it more carefully. He became very still.

“Wait,” he heard Nagisa say. “Wait, wait, this isn’t… a _real_ certificate, is it? This is just one of those joke ones people get at shops. We didn’t… we couldn’t have… no _way_.”

“I’m afraid this is real, Nagisa-kun,” said Rei solemnly. It was obvious that both he and Rin were repressing smirks, although Rei was doing better than his elder. “By the state marriage law, you are now legally Makoto-san’s husband.”

They turned to look at each other slowly and Makoto’s eyes dropped down to look at Nagisa’s ring. It suddenly hit him that he should be wearing the larger ring; he looked at his own ring, the small band cutting into the flesh of his fingers a little. The skin felt a little sore. He looked back up at Nagisa. “We mixed up the rings,” he said slowly, as if reciting the alphabet of a foreign language.

The second that passed in utter silence was charged with something that made Makoto’s heart beat faster still as he looked into Nagisa’s eyes, looking for something, _anything_ that would explain what they had been thinking last night. His eyes widened as he remembered that they had woken up in his _room_ , curled up in his _bed_ wearing nothing but _underwear_. He didn’t _feel_ debauched. But maybe memory loss applies to feelings as well…?

“We didn’t have sex,” Nagisa interrupted his thoughts and Makoto jerked, blushing furiously. Rin and Rei were now openly grinning.

“How do you know?”

Nagisa rolled his eyes. “Mako-chan, I know. We didn’t have sex. Stop freaking.”

“Seriously? You didn’t put out on your _wedding night_ , Nagisa?” Rin taunted. The blonde shot him a look and he fell back, hiding a wince with a smirk.

“So what now?” Makoto asked sounding a little harried. “Haru’s gone, we have a stolen dolphin in a bathtub, and Nagisa and I are now married to each other? Whose idea was this again?”

They all turned towards Rin; the man scowled. “When,” said Nagisa, shaking his head. “Are we going to learn that Rin-chan’s ideas are absolutely the _worst_?”

“What the f–”

“It’s like we didn’t learn _anything_ from the sleepover incident when we were twelve,” Makoto said. They paused, remembering, then shuddered. Rin scowled harder.

“That wasn’t even–”

“Or the snow fort episode the winter right after Rin-san’s graduation,” Rei added with a small grimace, “I still have claw marks from that.”

“ _Okay_ ,” Rin snapped. “Maybe my plans always backfire a little; it happens to everyone.”

“Just on a greater scale to you,” chuckled Makoto. Rin rolled his eyes.

“We can relax about the dolphin,” said Rin. “I called the habitat after Rei told me, er, everything and I talked one of the caretakers. They’re okay with telling the police that the dolphin was returned anonymously if we can get it back before opening time. Which is 12 noon.”

“That’s barely two hours from now,” gasped Nagisa.

“Yeah, but it’s cool, I convinced them to send someone to pick up the dolphin. All _we_ have to do is make sure no one finds out we _have_ the damned thing.”

“Don’t pretend, Rin-san,” Rei chided. “You were in the bathroom, cooing over the dolphin like it was a puppy when I found you. You _like_ it.”

Rin pinned him with a glare that might have scorched a hole straight through his forehead. “It’s a dolphin,” he grumbled. “You’re _supposed_ to like it.”

“We need to track down Haruka-san though,” said Rei. “Maybe some of us should go to the habitat and ask if any of us had been there last night, other than Haruka-san. It might give us a clue as to where we’d gone after.”

“Good idea,” Makoto said eagerly, jumping up. “I’ll go.”

“Me too,” Rin said immediately. But Rei cut in, “I think Rin-san should stay. His English is better than mine and we need a liaison to remain for the caretakers.”

“I have to search for my boyfriend, Rei,” Rin growled. “I’m not going to sit here and–”

“Rin,” said Makoto and Rin stopped with a disgruntled expression. “Relax. We’ll find him. But Rei’s right, we need someone here to take care of the,” he paused delicately and the silence was punctuated by the enthusiastic bells, “situation. We’ll keep you updated, okay?”

“Um,” Nagisa said, looking puzzled. “We?”

They all turned to look at him.

* * *

 

The dolphin habitat across the Mirage was lovely. The bottle-nosed dolphins chirruped in chorus as they bent down to inspect them, some of them playing ball with a rainbow beach ball, some racing. The caretaker who’d come to meet them had seemed a little worried; he’d also recognized them immediately. He told them that they had indeed come to the dolphin habitat, accompanied by a certain dark-haired gentleman, cough _cough_ , but that had been around 9 or so. They had left after the dark-haired gentleman tried to dive into the dolphin pool. They had all been looking flushed, yes, and here the caretaker looked at them curiously, but they seemed more or less within their senses. When they dragged away Haru from the habitat, they had been babbling about some wedding they had just come from. That very night.

“I was under the impression it was your wedding, actually,” the caretaker said to Nagisa and Makoto had to cough loudly to cover up the choked squeal he made. “You were wearing a suit and tie and had a corsage pinned to your breast whereas all the rest of them were dressed slightly more casual.”

“Ah,” Nagisa said. “Did I, um, mention _where_ the wedding had taken place perhaps?”

“Well,” the caretaker frowned. “Not specifically, no. But it had taken place somewhere nearby; and there _is_ a chapel a few blocks from here,” he added. “Since none of you seemed to have a car, I would say you walked here from there.

“This is one of those What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas things isn’t it?” the caretaker said suddenly, smiling a little. He glanced down at the identical rings on Makoto and Nagisa’s hands and looked back up.

“We’ll have to see,” shrugged Makoto, managing a small smile and laugh. “It might have been a total fluke. We were pretty drunk last night.”

The caretaker nodded and moved off, muttering something suspiciously like ‘tourists’ under his breath. Makoto turned to Nagisa with a worried frown. But even as he opened his mouth, Nagisa smiled in reassurance and casually reached forward to take his hand, giving his fingers a light squeeze. “Relax, Mako-chan,” he said softly. “Haru-chan’s fine. We’ll probably end up tracing him back to the hotel.”

Makoto shook his head. “I’m a little more worried about this,” he said, holding up his hand. The ring glinted in the sunlight. “Do you think the chapel does annulments?”

Nagisa’s eyes widened. “Y-you want an annulment?” he asked.

“Don’t you?” laughed Makoto. “This was clearly a joke; we were probably dared to do it by Rin or something. You don’t really want to be _married_ to me, right?”

When Nagisa didn’t reply immediately, he felt something inside of him throb. He knew that he was blushing; he could feel his highlighted cheeks burning. His friend’s head was bent, eyes inspecting the ring on Makoto’s hand, his own fingers twisting the larger ring around his thumb. Makoto was about to reach out and, well, _say_ something to break the silence and stop his ears from turning red too, when Nagisa finally looked up. He was strangely expressionless, amethyst eyes glowing. The look didn’t suit the man and Makoto felt unease kindling in his stomach.

“We should go look at the chapel,” said Nagisa.

It was a lovely chapel, a white, distinguished building with a sweeping staircase. But when they entered, the insides were far from the modest outer visage. Oh it looked like a chapel: just a chapel that was violently decorated by a seven-year-old little girl with a strange obsession with crinoline and lace doilies. There was a man standing at the end of the aisle and as they approached, he looked up, caught sight of them, and exclaimed in delight.

“Ah!” he cried, striding forward with a smile. “The lovebirds have returned I see! Please wait one moment; I shall go receive the package you had ordered.”

“Ah, no,” Makoto said, stopping the man in his tracks. “We’re not here for, um, our package. We want to know what happened here last night. We’ve sort of… lost our memory.”

The man looked from one to the other. “You don’t remember getting married?”

“We were kind of drunk out of our minds,” Nagisa replied, tone apologetic.

“Oh shit,” the man said, gaping. “Well. I think I had better get your package.”

He left before they could stop him. Nagisa sat down on one of the benches, rubbing his face. He looked up with a small grin when Makoto took a seat next to him. “At least, when we party, we really _party_ ,” he said with a laugh.

Makoto grinned back. “If only we could remember the party itself.”

Nagisa didn’t respond to that. He dropped his eyes from Makoto’s, inspecting their rings once more. Makoto got the strangest feeling that Nagisa was hiding something from him. He was about to voice this when the blonde reached over to take his hand. He shut his mouth and watched with round eyes. Nagisa didn't look up as he gently twisted the small ring on Makoto’s ring finger. The area was pretty sore at that point but Makoto didn’t say anything as his friend turned the ring over and over and slowly eased it off. He clutched it as he pulled off his own ring off of his thumb and dropped that ring into the middle of Makoto’s curled palm. Then he sat back, without looking at Makoto.

“Nagisa,” Makoto murmured, closing his fingers around his wedding ring. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing at all, Mako-chan,” his friend responded, the words falling so carelessly that they felt like bullets.

“And here we are!”

The man was back; they turned around to see him set down a red cardboard box with pink hearts on its side. They got up curiously as he started to take out photos and mugs with their names and faces on them. Makoto regarded the tacky mugs with mingled horror and amusement as Nagisa bent over the photos. As his friend made a small _tch_ noise, Makoto looked over as well. He bit back a gasp.

It didn’t look like a joke, was the first thought Makoto had. In fact, it looked so real that Makoto was starting to become afraid that he’d actually let something slip last night. There were more than fifty couple pictures of him and Nagisa; in all of them Nagisa was laughing as brightly as the sun and Makoto was staring at him with a smile that made him uncomfortable just looking at it. The worst, and his favorite, was one where Nagisa had wrapped his arms around Makoto’s neck and landed a sloppy kiss on his cheek. Makoto had his arms wrapped around Nagisa’s waist in that one, hands clasped at the small of his back, eyes bright and cheeks flushed.

There were other pictures with their friends in them: they too seemed normal and unrealistically real. Haru looked happy and bored, Rei looked proud and affectionate, Rin and Sousuke clearly ragging on each other and directing snarky looks at the camera; and Nagisa and Makoto were intertwined with one another in every single one of them. Arms linked, or hands linked, or arms around shoulders or backs or hips; in one way or another, they had managed to stay connected together in every single picture, group or no.

“Can’t remember any of this, huh?”

Makoto looked up to catch the man’s sly glance and he didn’t try to hide his blush. His blood was unusually heated and his fingers were itching to grasp something. He looked over at Nagisa and the blonde was smiling.

“Do you do annulments?” he asked and the warm feeling that had been blossoming in Makoto’s chest was immediately doused.

The man shrugged. “Of course. Would you like to do one now?”

“How long would it take?” Nagisa asked.

“Just a few minutes to write up the certificate and maybe thirty minutes to print it out.”

Makoto glanced at his watch and ignored the stab of relief. “We can’t,” he told Nagisa. “There’s no time. Our flight’s in an hour and half. We need to find Haru quickly and get started.”

Nagisa held his gaze carefully and nodded. They told the man to wrap up their package. He did so amiably, grinning a little as he replaced everything. “Your friend there,” he nodded to a picture of Makoto, Nagisa and Haru, “he was certainly a novelty. Did he get you the wedding present he promised you?”

Makot and Nagisa exchanged a look. “Wedding present?” Makoto asked carefully.

“Yes,” the man said conversationally. “He said he was going to get a real live dolphin as a wedding present for the two of you. As a pet. Of course, now I know he was _drunk_ … perhaps he didn’t mean it. But for a while there, I legitimately thought he would get you dolphin! What a determined looking fellow he was.”

He could feel Nagisa shaking beside him and thought it safer if he spoke. “Thank you. Ah. We should get going now. Thank you for everything.”

In five minutes, they were on their way back to the hotel when Makoto’s cell phone buzzed. He answered, “Rin?”

“He’s still at the hotel,” said Rin. He sounded pissed off. “The dolphin’s gone, finally, and we were on the way to the hotel pool when we overheard an order for mackerel miso being sent up to Room 265. The suite above ours.”

“How can you be sure that it’s Haru?”

“Makoto.” Rin’s voice came flat and short. “Come _on_.”

He thought about it. “…You’re right. We’ll be right there.”

He looked over at Nagisa as he returned his phone to his pocket. His friend was watching him in concern so Makoto gave him a smile. “They found Haru. He’s still at the hotel, but in another suite.” Makoto sighed. “He probably entered the wrong suite and fell asleep or something. Jeez.”

Nagisa laughed. “At least we won’t be late for our flight now. I still can’t believe he stole a dolphin as a …wedding present.” His amusement was gone. Makoto felt the strain in the air and that strange feeling returned. He gripped the box in his arms, knuckles whitening, and looked straight ahead at the cab driver’s head as he spoke.

“Nagisa, can you please tell me why you’re angry at me?”

He felt Nagisa glance at him and then look away. “I’m not mad at Mako-chan,” he mumbled.

Makoto turned to give him a chiding look, as if saying _try again_. Nagisa sighed. “It’s just that,” he said slowly. “…I remember a bit of last night. I remembered our wedding.”

He stared. “ _What_?”

Nagisa flushed and talked faster. “I don’t remember everything; just snippets. But I remember Makoto-chan asking me to marry him and I remember saying yes and… I remember the vows. Your vows.” He looked at Makoto, those amethyst eyes clear. “You swore that you would protect me and be my helpmate and never betray my trust. I know you don’t remember them but… I do. It’s not Mako-chan’s fault,” he added hastily. “But as stupid as it is, _I_ remember.”

Makoto was having trouble finding words. “Do you… _want_ to stay married?”

Nagisa turned a shade of red that was reminiscent of Seijuuro’s hair color. “Well,” he stammered. “Not. _That_. But just. I just thought that Mako-chan and I. Well.” He subsided into quiet and stared at his knees.

Makoto stared at the blonde’s pink ear and thought hard. Nagisa’s fingers were working fast around his ring, turning the skin on his ring finger red. “Nagisa,” he started and they slid smoothly to a stop in the hotel driveway. His friend jumped out without a word, leaving him to pay the driver and carry up the wedding package.

When Makoto got back to their suite, the others were pulling out their luggage into the hallway. Rin caught sight of Makoto, raised an eyebrow at the Valentine-esque package in his hands. Makoto decided not to address it.

“Where’s Haru?” he asked.

“We’re going to get him now,” Rei told him. “But Sousuke-san just called, he’s fuming.”

“What?” Makoto looked from him to Rin. “Why?”

Rin gave him a small grin as he replied, “Turns out I forgot to mention that I invited our old buchou to the wedding.”

“Rin!”

“What?! I swear I forgot! Plus, just because Kou and Mikoshiba were a thing back in _high school_ shouldn’t get Sou’s panties all twisted. But yeah, he’s kind of pissed and we need to get to the airport before he decides to call Kou and vent.”

“I am _so_ missing Ai-chan right now,” said Nagisa, making a face at Rin as he helped Rei lug the bags towards the elevators. “Only he could get away with smacking Rin-chan upside the head like I want to do right now.”

“Whatever,” Rin rolled his eyes. “It’s good that he stayed back to help out Kou. Now he can handle the whole buchou situation before we get back!” He grinned around at the rest of them. Makoto sighed.

“Let’s go get Haru,” he said.

The door to Room 265 was opened by two very giggly girls. One was wearing glasses and her eyes widened at the sight of Rin; the other simply gaped. They didn’t even need to enter the suite to realize what Haru was doing there: they could see him paddling lazily in the indoor pool.

“Haru,” Makoto called out and their friend surfaced, lips twitching into a smile at the sight of them. There was a third girl, also in glasses, on the other side of the pool watching Haru zealously but with an expression of puzzlement, like she couldn’t figure him out. All three sighed as Haru pulled himself out of the pool, water dripping off of him. He was wearing his swimsuit. Typical.

“Makoto,” Haru said his name as an acknowledgment, drying himself with a towel from a poolside table. “You’re all finally awake.”

“Finally awake?” Rin said in incredulity. “We’ve been cleaning up _your_ mess since daybreak, you idiot.”

Haru frowned. “What?”

“ _You stole a dolphin_.”

Haru rolled his eyes. “I was drunk.”

“Oh so you _remember_ ,” Rin sneered, walking towards him. “I should punch you into the pool,” he told Haru. His boyfriend’s eyes glinted in response.

“Try it,” he taunted and Rin’s eyes flashed.

“Okay, no,” Makoto called. “Stop it, you two. Haru, you should have left us a message. We were worried sick about you. And you can’t just go up to random people’s suites to swim in their indoor pool.”

“They invited me,” Haru shrugged, gesturing at the girls who clearly didn’t understand Japanese but were following the exchange avidly. When they saw Haru gesturing at them, one of the bespectacled ones stepped forward hesitantly.

“Um, if you’re mad at him,” she said in English. “Don’t be. We asked him to come up to our room because he looked a little cold in the hotel pool. We didn’t know he’d come with his…” her eyes slid up and down all of their bodies in quick assessment, “friends.”

There was something about her hawk-like scrutiny that reminded Makoto of Kou. He hid a grin as Rin said, “It’s alright. We should get going now, our flight’s in an hour or so. Er, thank you for taking care of our friend.”

“Sure,” they answered enthusiastically. “Bye, Haru.”

“Thanks,” waved Haru as they pushed him out. “Bye.”

“Did you like it though?” he asked as they headed downstairs, directing his gaze to Makoto and Nagisa. “Your wedding present?”

Nagisa grinned. “Yeah, thanks Haru-chan. But I think you should lay off the more extravagant gifts next…” he suddenly turned red and finished his sentence slowly, “time.”

Haru didn’t notice. “Okay.”

Nagisa bent his head away from Makoto slightly and Makoto suddenly felt that he’d had enough. There was that warm feeling in his chest again and he followed its orders, casually reaching down to take hold of Nagisa’s hand. The blonde turned towards him in surprise and stiffened as he ran a thumb across Nagisa’s palm. Makoto tightened his fingers around his hand.

“You can get a dolphin doll next time instead,” he told his best man with a small grin and pretended not to notice the slight tremble in Nagisa’s fingers.

“I’ll cater your wedding then,” said Haru and as Nagisa laughed out loud, Makoto felt the pressure inside of him ease.

“No _way_ , Haru-chan,” protested Nagisa. “I do _not_ want mackerel at my wedding.”

“Neither do I,” he put in.

“Killjoys,” Haru shrugged.

“Haru, FYI, I am _never_ getting married to you,” Rin said.

“As long as you never break up with me,” Haru replied and Makoto and Nagisa hid grins as Rin blushed furiously.


End file.
